Some more odds and ends

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It doesn’t matter that you “know” something in your head, the heart with its “feelings center” can overrule you. I had my annual cancer checkup this week. I had breast cancer over 13 years ago. Checkups always make me nuts. Over the years I’ve had to go back for further tests and biopsies because the mammogram wasn’t clear or looked funny or something. None of them turned out to be cancer but they all caused quite a bit of worry. (Yes, I know that worry doesn’t accomplish anything. That’s just another thing that my head knows but my heart doesn’t!) I wish I could approach this calmly. This year they have a new mammogram machine that takes “slices.” The radiologist reads it while you are there. I was cleared on the spot. That was worth another mocha latte to celebrate! (It was too early for a margarita!) Woot woot!

Another crimp in the taxes – I have to calculate the cost basis of a decades old stock plan I had with a former employer. Guess I’ll be pulling that number out of my butt! They do need to simplify this!

The warmest day this week was full of rain. I could have used some sunshine! The weatherman said we only had 5 full sunny days so far this winter. Boogers!

When I was a kid, we were encouraged to give something up for lent. I haven’t done that in decades. I can’t say that I did it with gusto when I was a kid either. In school we were encouraged to give up candy. The school stopped selling candy for lent but sold pretzel sticks, which I preferred. I never cared for candy so it was easy peasy.

Our new dining room centerpiece!

Our new dining room centerpiece! Dead center, Queen of the Table in all her lace.

Yesterday I walked through the dining room to see this. This past weekend we had guests in so everything was cleaned thoroughly as one of the guests has an allergy to cats. It doesn’t last long here!

 

 

57 thoughts on “Some more odds and ends”

    • Never did like candy much. Even now the most I’ll eat is one of the “fun size” candy bars if I eat any at all. One piece of Russel Stover (as long as I got the caramel center) would do me at Christmas.

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  4. That adorable centerpiece is just too funny! I think your cats provide the endorphin boost as stand-in for no sunshine. And I am so happy for you to have received a clear and positive message from your mammogram right on the spot! That’s an amazing diagnostic advancement and I wish it were possible to be so immediate with all medical tests. Here’s to another healthy year before the next checkups, Kate.

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    • I was surprised by the quick turnaround. Usually they have me wait until someone “looks” at it but they don’t give results. I always assumed they were checking that it wasn’t blurred. Getting the results is wonderful. Wish you could get blood results faster.

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  5. Mammograms – I have been avoiding them like the plague ever since hearing about the huge number of false positives they produce. Seems like you went through this experience yourself. So glad to hear that you are doing well.
    Now (!) – when it comes to celebrating good news after cancer screenings – it is never too early for a margarita.
    And where can I get one of those cat centerpieces for my dining room table?

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  6. I have a crazy Cat that likes toasted buttered brown wheat bread and she doesn’t like artificial but she will eat fresh flowers all day. You have to put a fence around them if they are in the house.

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    • There is usually a ceramic hen with two chicks on the table (can’t have artificial flowers as I have one cat that chews on them). I hadn’t put them back on the table yet when she commandeered it.

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    • Yes they smoosh the girls. They do a standard mammogram first and then the machine glides from one side to the other taking “slices” of the breast. The tech I had did not do the super painful smoosh where they catch my lungs in the machine and I can’t breathe.

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  10. For some reason the majority of my friends in college were all Catholic, most of them pretty devout. Well, meaning that even though they were smoking pot with me on a Saturday night, they still got up early the next morning for mass and most likely confession. That kind of devout. Anyway, every year I had this little joke during lent that I too would give up something: I gave up fish. It was stupid and yet every year I said it and they all laughed. One or two of them send me an e-mail every year at lent telling me they’re too giving it up.

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  14. I’m so glad you had good news quickly. I had uterine cancer two years ago and am still going back for 6-month checkups.

    I don’t remember things I gave up for Lent. Obviously, it wasn’t a big deal. One year I decided to add something instead of taking something away. I would go to church (required for this organist) and NOT COMPLAIN! It was the hardest thing I ever did.

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  16. So glad you got the all clear Kate! And the fact you didn’t have to wait for the results must have given you such relief!
    I see the God type person (he who was late and rude) on the 20th for the after check up, then will have my anniversary mammogram in September.

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  17. Glad you got a good result. We have a friend who was just recently diagnosed and had to have a mastectomy. She thought she had avoided the chemo and radiation part but found out she has to have it. I can’t imagine the fear. About Lent (Catholic school girl here so I know the drill) I’m over 60 so the rules don’t apply but I’ve decided that my “penance” is going to be adding some exercise to my day because I’ve already given up candy and sweets for the most part.

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  19. Happy to hear about your test results. I remember that anxiety all too well and it’s wonderful that you don’t have to sit around and wait for the results. Mom was cancer free for 40 years but one of her radiation buddies got cancer in her other breast while they were still in treatment together. At that time, I think Mom was considered clear after seven years but that anxiety, the what if, raised it’s ugly head every mammogram.

    I love your table decoration. One of my cats would invariably jump up on the table when I had guests over. “What?” she would say. “I’m always allowed up here.”

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    • 🙂 Cats — I try to explain that she’s not allowed there (she isn’t but she doesn’t listen) but I’m not kidding anyone. As for the big C — you can get a reoccurrence anytime. I have two friends who eventually died from it. One had been cancer-free for 9 years and the other 14 so I don’t take anything for granted. Happy that your Mom was one of the lucky ones! Today’s treatments are better (mostly) but there still is no surefire cure that guarantees anything.

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  21. I was always around kids who gave things up for Lent, so I joined in. I still think about doing it every year, and sometimes do give up something. But this year, I’ll just let the whole idea pass me by. Perhaps that’s a perk of not being a child.

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  23. Gorgeous centerpiece! So glad that you received the ‘all clear’ on your recent health check. Hope your well deserved mocha latte was extra delicious!

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  24. So happy you were cleared on the spot! It is the waiting that drives me up the walls and causes all the anxiety. Back in the 90s where I had my mammogram done they told you before you left the results. I still drive two hours to the same place but now have to wait for a letter that takes two weeks to show up. I have a history of cysts and that always means call backs because the radiologist peeps always want another look. I like the new machine you mention… I am thinking it is a step up from 3D? I just know you did a happy dance!
    I don’t give anything up for Lent anymore… 🙂
    That is THE most attractive centerpiece I have seen! She positioned herself perfectly and posed for you!

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    • They called it a 3D but the machine moved and took pictures in increments like a CAT scan. Mammograms are very important. My cancer was spotted very early through a mammogram before there was any palpable lump. However, you get frightening call backs. Most turn out to be nothing but……
      Hazel was pretty proud of herself, perfectly placed. She didn’t even move as I clicked away.

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  25. Cats always have to be dead center, right? Dead center of the table, the bed, the middle of the kitchen floor…

    I can’t decide if it appeals to their sense of symmetry or it’s the best place to be in a human’s way.

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